Athletic Recruiting Video Mistakes, you don’t want to make

Athletic Recruiting Video Mistakes, you don’t want to make

The goal of your highlight tape is to get a coach interested in you so that he will want to invest in spending more time than just the two minutes on your film in the recruiting process. That means watching more of your game film and talking to your high school coach. If you’re not “brief and brilliant” and not on point with everything in your highlight film, chances you’ll never get there.

Not Identifying Yourself on the Field

Not identifying yourself on the field is probably the biggest mistake that players make when they create highlight videos. They assume that because they know who they are, and because they told the coach what number they are, that they will be easy to spot. Usually, it is very difficult to see numbers on the field in a video, but more importantly, in the time that it takes the coach to figure out who you are, they will be missing many of your plays!

Our Solution: We highlight the player on screen, so coaches know, where to look

Filming an Introduction of Yourself Speaking

Coaches try to minimize the amount of time they spend watching videos because they get so many. The key is to show that you can PLAY, and then if a coach is interested, he will look at your accomplishments in your resume AFTER watching the video. If you spend 3 minutes at the start of the video talking about how great you are, you will bore the coach to death and he may never watch the footage of you playing!

Our Solution: We add a few second intro at the beginning with the player’s picture, name, position, graduating year

Sending a Video Longer than 10 Minutes

Coaches receive hundreds of emails per day, so they have to use their time wisely. They will typically decide after the first minute if they want to watch the next 3-4 minutes of the video. Avoid sending a recruiting video that is longer than 10 minutes!

Our Solution: We aim for 4-7 minutes in total for best results

Terrible Choice in Music

One of the biggest complaints of coaches is terrible song for their video. And sure, they can turn off the sound and watch the video in mute. Music sets mood, tempo, dynamics and style. If chosen carefully, it will bring your video to the next level. With bad music, the sound gets turned off and your video will be watched in silence, which tends to add negative vibe. Watch out for copyright laws, especially if you plan to upload your video to Youtube or other social media sites. These sites block copyrighted content and your video might even be removed. Just because you recently heard a nice song, does not mean, it is the best choice for an athletic video.

Our Solution: We have the experience to choose the best suited music, trust our judgement and let us do the selection for you

Showing A Super Average Clip FIRST

Recruiting videos need to catch the eye of the coach in the first 50 seconds; otherwise, they might not watch the rest of the video. Whatever you do, don’t start with an easy 10 yard pass, or losing the ball. Anyone can do that! Show what makes you unique and why a coach would want to have you on their team!

Our Solution: We start the video with the best plays

Video from Too Far Away

It’s important that the footage gives the coach the ability to see you play tactically, so filming from high up and further away is ideal. The coach still needs to be able to see what you do on the ball without you looking like an ant!

Our Solution: We zoom in on the player and have the screen follow the player, so he/she doesn’t get out of the frame. If resolution in good enough, it can even look like a drone followed the player with a camera. Just keep in mind to use the highest resolution possible, when recording.

Having a Screaming Parent in the Background

Your recruiting video should be about YOU, so do your best to remove anything that distracts from your playing ability!

Our Solution: We remove the original audio and leave music only

Great videos don’t just happen. A little pre-planning will go a long way for your next video project. Our blog is filled with practical video planning and recording tips. You shoot, we edit! Contact us to get your project started!